1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lighting device having an anion and, more particularly, to a lighting equipment which is integrated as a single unit with a conventional illumination device such as a lamp, and which is capable of varying the degree of air purification depending on the amount of anion generated by the equipment.
2. Description of Related Art
An air purification device commonly used to purify the air in a house or an office is known to produce a healthy indoor environment by removing various viruses, bacteria, tobacco smoke, etc. which would otherwise give out unpleasant odors. The use of the air purification device makes the indoor environment very pleasant and helps adjust the human body's balance. Air purification is achieved by the action of anions generated by an anion generator incorporated within the purification device. Such a purification device, however, uses a separate fan for creating a convection of indoor airs, which necessitates accommodating related parts such as a driving motor in the device. This kind of device has a disadvantage because it occupies a large space due to its large volume.
Recent versions of air purification devices do not employ fans described above for the purpose of miniaturizing the device. These devices, however, experience problems in their purifying ability due to the limited convection of air. Furthermore, since these miniaturized purification devices cover limited areas, a large number of the purification devices need to be installed to cover large areas which can be costly. Moreover, such purification devices require individual installation and maintenance, and multiple outlets for supplying power to these devices, which increases costs associated with the installation and use of purification devices.
To overcome these problems, Korean Patent No. 1997-6047 discloses a compactly structured conventional lighting device 1 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the device 1 is integrated with multiple lamps 2, an electric power source 5, and an anion generator 4. The lamps 2 are engaged with a housing 3 of the device 1 for providing illumination. The anion generator 3 generates anions for purifying the air. There are, however, drawbacks associated with the device 1. Because the device 1 is configured to generate a fixed amount of anions on a continuous basis, the device 1 consumes much power. Further, since the anions are generated using high voltages that generate much heat, overheating of the device 1 occurs and the continuous use of the lamps is deemed extremely unsafe. Since the anion generator 4 projects and the width of the anion generator 4 is limited, the scope and direction of the anion generation is limited, such that the device 1 cannot adequately purify the indoor air.
Hence, there has been a long felt need in the art for an improved lighting equipment which solves the aforementioned problems and other problems associated with conventional lighting equipment.